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Once you purchase your domain name and a hosting package, what next? If you didn't buy them at the same web site—for example, you got your domain name at GoDaddy and your web hosting at Host Gator—you need to "tie them together" so that when someone types your domain name in their browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, for example), it can pull your web site's files from whatever server it resides on in the world. How is that done?
It's done by setting the domain nameservers at the site where you purchased the name. This is a confusing concept for many, but let's see if we can make it a little easier to understand.
For starters, the acronym "DNS" stands for Domain Name Server, if you haven't figured that out already. So to say "DNS domain name server" or "domain DNS" is actually redundant. Not to mention repetitive. 
Between the time you type a domain name into your browser and the time the web site appears, a lot has to happen in that split second. Take a look at this simplified depiction of the chain of events:
YOU
type www.yourfavoritesite.com into your browser•
YOUR BROWSER (let's call her...Angela)
says, “How in the gigabytes am I supposed to know where this is? Keep your keyboard on, I’ll ask Kevin.” (Whips out her Thimbleberry and texts your computer.) “This is Angela. Constant-web-surfer-dude here wants to go to yourfavoritesite.com. Can you help him out?”•
YOUR COMPUTER (Kevin)
says, “Hey, you know I deal in IP numbers, not names. You’re going to have to wait a nanosecond.” (Calls up your Internet Service Provider’s nameserver.) “Yo, Stanley, I gotta request for yourfavoritesite.com. You still owe me a favor, you know. Howzabout you tell me which nameserver knows the IP address for this domain?”•
YOUR ISP’S NAMESERVER (Stanley)
says, “Howzabout you quit hassling me? All right, hold on.” (Connects to the Domain Name System.) “Is this Dwight? I need an IP address to go with this domain name, please.”•
DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM (Dwight)
says, “Weren’t you just in here a minute ago asking for something? We do have other customers, you know.” (Rifles through files.) “Okay, you’re going to have to call Phyllis. She’s the nameserver on duty tonight for yourfavoritesite.com.”•
YOUR ISP’S NAMESERVER (Stanley)
says, “Thanks.” (Takes the name and dials.) “Hello, can I get a large pepperoni with everything, hold the mushrooms?”•
NAMESERVER FOR YOURFAVORITESITE.COM (Phyllis)
says, “Large pep? No 'shrooms? Would you like an IP address with that, sir?”•
YOUR ISP’S NAMESERVER (Stanley)
says, “Yeah, that too. Thanks, Phyllis.” (Calls your computer back.) “Okay, Kevin, got an IP number to go with that domain name you were asking about.”•
YOUR COMPUTER (Kevin)
says, “Thanks, Stanley. You da man.” (Turns to browser.) “Here you go, Angela. This should work.”•
YOUR BROWSER (Angela)
says, “Took you long enough.” (Sighs heavily.) “I don’t get paid enough for this.” (Displays yourfavoritesite.com on the screen for you.)•
YOU
browse your favorite site, blissfully unaware of the above exchange.
Okay, it doesn't happen exactly like that (in reality, nameservers don't eat pizza, gives them heartburn), but you get the general idea.
Instructions for setting DNS
To change name servers, log into your domain registrar’s site with the username and password you chose when you bought your domain. The following instructions pertain specifically to GoDaddy. If you purchased your domain somewhere else, the same principles will apply, although the links or buttons will be in a different place and possibly named a little differently.
Click on "Domain Manager" under "My Products" in the left column. Put a check in the box next to your domain name and then click on "Nameservers" in the row of buttons above it.
You should have received an e-mail from your hosting provider with the nameserver information. You’ll need to enter those two items on the next screen.
In the window that pops up, click the radio button next to "I host my domains with another provider." Under that, there are four text fields. Replace whatever is in the first two boxes with the two strings of numbers and text from your host. It's often something like ns100.hostcompany.com and ns101.hostcompany.com.
It can take up to 72 hours for this change to propagate Internet-wide. The term often used for this is “resolve.” DNS “resolve” your domain name to the IP address of your site, connecting them so that when you type in the domain, it knows where to find the server that holds your site.
After you do this, you may receive an e-mail from the registrar stating that they received a request that the DNS be changed. It’s a fraud-prevention measure so that no one else seizes control of your name. You can ignore these e-mails unless you didn’t make the change yourself.
To see what this is actually doing, try this: Before you set the DNS, or immediately after, type your domain name into your browser’s address bar. You will probably get a page full of ads which says at the top: “This web page is parked free courtesy of GoDaddy.” Over the next couple of days, check every once in a while.
When you see a screen from your host (such as Host Gator) rather than from GoDaddy, you’ll know it has resolved, at least in your "corner" of the Internet, because it is now pointing the visitor to the proper server, even though you don't have a site up yet. Other people might still see the GoDaddy page because not all servers are updated at the same time. Your change has to be propagated to the entire Internet—not an instantaneous process. Once it has resolved, you can begin creating your site.
Oh, and one more thing...
E-mail me by midnight on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, with the name of my favorite show (based on clues in this article), and you'll be entered in a drawing for a free hosting package for one year!
UPDATE: The winner is ... nobody! There were no entries. 
The answer, by the way, was The Office.)
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